Monday, May 16, 2016

Susan Sarandon speaks out on Woody Allen

[...] On Sunday, actress Susan Sarandon criticized Allen, and she left no doubt about what she meant. During a panel discussion at Cannes with Geena Davis, Sarandon’s co-star in the groundbreaking 1991 movie Thelma & Louise, Sarandon was asked what she thought about Allen’s recent comment that he hasn’t made a movie about a younger man falling in love with an older woman because “I just don’t have any material.” Reporters in the room chuckled in response to the question, but Sarandon dryly responded, “I have nothing good to say about Woody Allen, so I don’t think we should go there.” After the reporter prodded for elaboration, Sarandon added, “I think he sexually assaulted a child, and I don’t think that’s right.” The chuckling immediately stopped; but, it's worth noting, the consummately professional Davis didn’t even flinch at Sarandon’s no-nonsense answer.

Sarandon has previously spoken out against Allen, notably in a 2014 interview with the Daily Beast in which she said, “I think he really tore that family apart in a way that was horrible, and hasn’t really dealt with the aftermath.” Her willingness now to state the allegation against Allen very plainly, instead of couching them in euphemisms or glossing them over, is refreshing—and, as Ronan Farrow mentioned in his recent essay, very rare in Hollywood, where actors “continue to line up to star in his movies.” ......